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Movie review: John Wick continues to dazzle action lovers in Chapter 2

Keanu Reeves returns as the seasoned hitman in John Wick: Chapter 2. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

How do you possibly improve on the grace, skill, class and economy of John Wick, the film that wrote the book on making impeccable filmmaking technique appear totally effortless? Strange as it may seem, the answer is do exactly the same, only better. John Wick: Chapter 2 contains all of the typical downfalls of modern action sequels: more plot, more characters, cameos and an expanded explanation for the in-film universe that was already totally coherent. Through the same no-nonsense, yet utterly remarkable magic that made its predecessor the best English-language action film since Mad Max: Fury Road, John Wick: Chapter 2 is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and a satisfying resultant of the over-50 action hero subgenre.

John Wick: Chapter 2
R, 120 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema

John Wick: Chapter 2 begins shortly after the first film left off, as our hero (Keanu Reeves) wraps up the loose end of recovering his stolen car. Things kick off with a suitably cartoonish introduction to the backstory and mythology of the series, full of stunning combat choreography and a primer provided by the inimitable Peter Stormare as the brother of villain Viggo: John Wick is the exception to all rules, an unstoppable man of immense focus who once killed three men in a bar with a pencil.

Following his retirement from professional killing, Wick brings his car home to finally establish the life of peace and quiet that had eluded him. Unfortunately, he is visited by mafia boss Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), to whom Wick made a blood oath that is now being redeemed in the form of a hit on D’Antonio’s sister in Rome. Of course, D’Antonio betrays Wick’s trust, and the result leaves Wick with a burned-out home (though his new puppy survives) and permanently on the run to escape a $7 million price on his head. His only option is to track D’Antonio down and kill him, but he must do so with every contract killer in the world on his tail.

Crucial to both Wick films’ success has been that, despite excellent world-building and colorful supporting characters, they go in a completely straight line, from cause to conclusion. There are no subplots, no love stories, no distractions; everything on the screen relates directly to Wick’s story. Like the series’ hero, once they start, they do not stop until everyone is either dead or satisfied with the death of someone else. The new rules followed by the crime world in Chapter 2 fit comfortably with those established in the previous entry and never feel like retroactive continuity as an excuse for more fighting (see: the later Terminator films). The new roles—Ruby Rose as D’Antonio’s enforcer, Ares, Common as John’s chief rival, Cassian, and many others—are not only fun, but instrumental in cementing the charm of Chapter 2. Even a guest appearance by Laurence Fishburne does not feel as forced as it might in lesser hands than those of director Chad Stahelski and producer David Leitch, who previously led the stunt team on The Matrix series.

Stylistically, John Wick: Chapter 2 is as much a child of John Woo-style “gun-fu” as the Wachowskis, but with a very strong independent streak (though it is certainly recommended that you watch the first entry beforehand). Chapter 2 is funnier, but the humor is organic and not the result of ironic winking or pandering as in lesser-action sequels; it claws and scratches to win the audience’s approval but does not beg. In fact, you may be the one doing the begging for Chapter 3 after its breathtaking conclusion. John Wick was a perfect movie through and through, and Chapter 2 is a perfect sequel.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

The Comedian, A Dog’s Purpose, Fifty Shades Darker, La La Land, The Lego Batman Movie, Moana, Rings, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, The Space Between Us, Split

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

2017 Oscar Nominated Shorts, 20th Century Women, Fifty Shades Darker, Hidden Figures, Jackie, The Lego Batman Movie, La La Land, Mifune: The Last Samurai, Paterson, Split

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Arts

Movie review: Paterson captivates through poetry and performance

Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson stars Adam Driver and weaves a fascinating, poetic story around the daily routines of a bus driver. Bleecker Street Media

Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson is the culmination of every adjective used to describe the director’s work—poetic, intelligent, philosophical, gorgeous—but with a sense of grounding that makes its style and themes that much more effective. A Jarmusch film is most often an exploration of the artist’s own influences; while he never artificially inserts himself or reduces his characters to mouthpieces, it is never a surprise when the leads begin discussing Iggy Pop in detail. Paterson takes this one step further by actively illustrating an artist’s relationship with inspiration, the process of channeling everyday events and occurrences into art, in an accessible and naturalistic way.

Paterson
R, 118 minutes
Violet Crown Cinema

The film follows a man named Paterson (Adam Driver), a bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey. Paterson (the man) is an amateur poet and a creature of habit, for whom spending time writing verse in his private notebook is as regularly scheduled as walking to work or eating lunch. Paterson lives with his girlfriend, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), and their bulldog. She is also an artist, a creator of visually striking furniture and cupcakes, with musical aspirations, who encourages him to publish his work. Every day after dinner, Paterson walks the dog past a neighborhood bar where he stops for a beer, and in this bar is a wall dedicated to Paterson’s (the town) most famous residents, including poet William Carlos Williams.

As with many Jarmusch films, Paterson is not about the culmination of the story but about mood and meditation. There is a vignette quality to the progression of the plot, but with characters who are familiar to us, as seen through the eyes of a working-class poet. Paterson observes his passengers and listens to their conversations, fascinated and creatively energized by the temporary intimacy of public transit.

Indeed, the poetry of everyday events, locations and people is central to what makes Paterson excel in the quieter moments. Jarmusch is always observant of the inherently poetic. A chance encounter with a rapper (played by Method Man) working on verses to the beat of a washing machine is a wonderful scene, as when Paterson is reading poems by a young girl who also keeps a private journal.

One of Paterson’s poems examines the discovery that there are more than three dimensions, the fourth being time. Though a creature of habit, he is keen on detail and the way passage of time affects seemingly constant or stationary locations. The conversations he overhears on the bus are fascinating because they are present in this exact location. The bus has not changed three of its dimensions, but the fourth is always in flux. The bar is full of characters with stories that occur all over the city but coincide in this one location.

Though a charming film with love for its subject matter and respect for the audience’s intelligence (read: no cheap plot twists or unearned pathos), the glue that holds everything together is without a doubt Driver himself. Quiet, observant and contemplative while never aloof, Driver gives a performance so good it fools you with its naturalism. Jarmusch has found a tremendous muse in Driver, and Paterson finds both doing their best work in already extraordinary careers.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

The Comedian, A Dog’s Purpose, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Moana Sing-along, Monster Trucks, Patriots Day, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Rings, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, The Space Between Us, Split, XXX: The Return of Xander Cage

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

20th Century Women, Hidden Figures, Gold, Jackie, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Patriots Day, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Salesman, Silence, Split

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Arts

Movie review: Gold is full of missed opportunities

The nearly true story of Gold finds Matthew McConaughey chasing a promise of riches in Indonesia. Photo courtesy The Weinstein Company

Watching Gold, you can’t help but feel that every member of this production arrived with a different sense of what the final product would be. Stephen Gaghan is directing a fact-based procedural, Robert Elswit is shooting a psychological comedy-drama and Matthew McConaughey came overprepared for a madcap crime farce. The result plays out like American Hustle on NyQuil, a pointless exercise about nothing in particular that’ll have you wondering more about how they got McConaughey so convincingly bald than about the ethics of mining in the modern age.

Gold
R, 121 minutes
Violet Crown Cinema

The story jinxes itself by claiming to be inspired by true events. Let’s be serious: A movie is either factual enough that it warrants the disclaimer based on a true story or it is inspired by things that actually occurred but is a wholly original creation. The latter is not the badge of validity that the producers hope, but a way of convincing the audience to overlook things that don’t make any sense.

The “true events” in question are that of the Bre-X mining scandal of the early ’90s, where a Canadian business claimed to have struck gold in Indonesia but it was actually a massive fraud. If you remember this story from the news, you know exactly what the twist is. If you don’t, you’ll spend most of the film wondering why this particular story of a down-on-his-luck geologist battling Wall Street is supposedly so interesting as to warrant a whole film. The fictionalized protagonist is Kenny Wells (McConaughey), who is on the verge of bankrupting the mining company he inherited from his father. In a desperate move, he reaches out to the legendary Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez), who is convinced there is an undiscovered gold mine in Indonesia. Wells pulls every string he can, uses every last dollar to support Acosta’s dig and after waking up from a near-fatal case of malaria in the middle of the jungle, is informed by Acosta that they’ve struck the big time.

From here, it’s pretty much the same three scenes over and over again until the big twist. Wall Street wants a piece of the action, people celebrate when Wells tells them off, there’s a bump in the road that is almost immediately resolved, repeat. The Wells crew is a cast of colorful characters, but we never spend enough time with them outside of looking worried or popping champagne. Bryce Dallas Howard as Wells’ wife is utterly wasted, while Corey Stoll shows up and does his Corey Stoll thing as an untrustworthy Wall Street rep. Guess what his character tries to do? You’re right.

That’s about all the personality Gold has; when it’s not showing off McConaughey’s belly, it’s flailing in search of a reason to exist. It’s not funny. It’s not suspenseful. The characters don’t make any sense together (though McConaughey and Ramirez have great chemistry). The story has no point until it has a big one, and by then it’s far too late to save it. Don’t reward such an obvious attempt for Oscar nominations (its name is no accident), and skip Gold.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

The Bye Bye Man, A Dog’s Purpose, The Founder, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Moana Sing-along, Monster Trucks, Passengers, Patriots Day, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, Split, XXX: The Return of Xander Cage

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

20th Century Women, Hidden Figures, Jackie, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Patriots Day, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Silence, Split, XXX: The Return of Xander Cage

Categories
Arts

Movie review: Patriots Day overlooks the heart of the matter

In Patriots Day, Mark Wahlberg plays a composite character in pursuit of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. CBS Films

Patriots Day is a reductive, insulting, dishonest bit of emotional manipulation that bullies its audience into withholding criticisms out of fear that they will be taken as insults against the heroic people of Boston who came together in the wake of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. No, director Peter Berg and co-producer/star Mark Wahlberg do all the insulting on their own with a reductive, pandering, self-congratulatory piece of exploitation that casts aside real people to vaunt the accomplishments of a fictional cop who does not even exist. So much for being dedicated to the everyday heroes.

Patriots Day
R, 133 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema

Before we proceed with the rest of the review, one point needs to be made clear. Despite what some are saying, there is nothing inherently exploitative in making a film about the bombing and its aftermath. It is not “too soon,” and as long as art requires money to produce, there is nothing intrinsically hypocritical about selling tickets to a film that deals with heavy subjects. This sort of thinking led the world to dismiss Janet Reitman’s excellent investigation, “Jahar’s World,” for Rolling Stone and should not automatically be used as convenient ammo against Patriots Day. Its sins are much too serious for us to resort to potshots.

In the name of fairness, let’s lead with the good. Patriots Day presents itself as a procedural, following the series of events just before, during and in the week following the attack. Possibly the best aspect of the film is its use of real figures—Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Watertown Police Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (J.K. Simmons), FBI special agent Richard Des- Lauriers (Kevin Bacon) and others. Berg follows the action from several points of view, including Sean Collier (Jake Picking), the MIT officer shot and killed by the Tsarnaevs, and Dun Meng (Jimmy O. Yang), whose car was stolen by the attackers. We even follow Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev with glimpses into the elder brother’s domineering behavior toward his impressionable and passive sibling.

When the film focuses on the intense minutiae of police work or spending time with people living their lives with no knowledge of the events they are about to be thrust into, it often works. The carjacking scene alone, in which the Tsarnaevs reveal their paranoid and conspiratorial mindset while Meng attempts to play along so as not to anger his abductors while also planning his escape, could have been its own film. A scene in which an interrogator (Khandi Alexander) grills Tamerlan’s wife is truly riveting and possibly the best single-scene performance of the year.

So where does Wahlberg fit into all of this, you may be asking? He plays Tommy Saunders, a composite character who never existed yet manages to be at the finish line at the time of the explosion, tells the FBI what’s what, pursues the bombers into Watertown, inspects the boat where Dzhokhar was eventually found, then shakes hands with David Ortiz before a Dropkick Murphys song plays over the credits. Berg, Wahlberg and company felt creating this caricature of a man was more worth their time than to acknowledge the existence of non-uniformed heroes like Carlos Arredondo, the famed cowboy- hat-donning activist and first responder who can be seen in videos running directly into the chaos before the smoke has even cleared. Berg fixates on Saunders as he guides ambulances full of EMTs whom we never meet and victims who are often not named until the end.

There is a film to be made about this subject, and Berg sometimes proves it with the occasional scene that holds together. But in the end, Patriots Day is not dedicated to any real heroes, but to self-parody and fictional authority figures.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

A Monster Calls, The Bye Bye Man, Fences, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Live By Night, Moana, Monster Trucks, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, Singin’ in the Rain, Sleepless, Underworld: Blood Wars, Why Him?

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

Fences, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Live by Night, Manchester by the Sea, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Silence, Sing

Categories
Arts

Movie review: Hidden Figures reveals great accomplishments

Hidden Figures tells the true story of three African-American women employed by NASA who were invaluable to the 1960s space race. 20th Century Fox

Hidden Figures is a story that must be told for its own sake-—the overlooked contributions of brilliant scientists and mathematicians who have been left out of history for their gender and race—but as a film, it rises to the challenge with a devastatingly clear grasp of how deep racism goes in our society.

Hidden Figures
PG, 127 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX,
Violet Crown Cinema

Several times throughout Hidden Figures, one of our characters accomplishes something great in front of those who doubted her, leading her to be invited to previously closed meetings and sought for expertise by people who were once her deepest antagonists. With every achievement, however, comes a reminder of how petty and hateful the world can be, sometimes in the form of a slammed door, a denied promotion or a barbed, dismissive, paternalistic comment that is clearly rooted in race.

Even with this weighty subject matter, Hidden Figures—based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Charlottesville’s own Margot Lee Shetterly—remains inspiring, optimistic and thoroughly watchable. The film follows NASA-employed mathematicians Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe). We meet the leading ladies on their morning commute as their car breaks down, seeing each in her element: Dorothy taking direct action by fixing the motor, Mary attempting to hitchhike and Katherine gazing at the sky. When a police officer pulls over, they must get ahead of how the conversation might go, ultimately defusing his clear racial animosity (which he does not explicitly state, a running theme in the film) by appealing to his patriotism—that they must get to work on time to stay ahead of the Russians in the thick of the space race.

The three work at West Area Computers in Langley, Virginia, a division staffed entirely by African-American women. Katherine soon joins the team responsible for the calculations necessary for John Glenn’s safe launch and re-entry under Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) and Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons), where she finds her work is extremely valued but she is not. There is the indignity of needing to walk a half mile to find a restroom for “colored women,” not receiving credit for her work and finding a coffee pot labeled “colored” after her arrival. Al only cares about the success of the mission and accepts Katherine for her skill, while Paul sees the need to treat her as an equal as a clear threat. The other friends often find themselves in similar predicaments; Dorothy is unable to get the title and pay grade of a supervisor though she already does the work, Mary has the potential to be a valuable engineer but lacks the necessary degree that she cannot get because the school is still segregated.

As well as being a snapshot of life in the early ’60s—President John  F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. appear in several montages; the words “civil rights” are on everyone’s lips but the Civil Rights Act has yet to be passed; Brown v. Board of Education has been decided but is unevenly applied—Hidden Figures is the story of how ideas and people change. The white characters are not snarling, epithet-hurling bigots we associate with the word racist, but they often follow the social norms of a racist society, making their actions no less dehumanizing.

Hidden Figures would be worth a watch even if it were a purely perfunctory exploration of the story. But thanks to an intelligent script, captivating performances and thoughtful direction (not to mention gorgeous production design), this is a film that deserves a spot on Oscar ballots this year and social studies classrooms for years to come.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

A Monster Calls, Assassin’s Creed, Collateral Beauty, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fences, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, Underworld: Blood Wars, Why Him?

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

Assassin’s Creed, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fences, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing

Categories
Arts

The best movies of 2016 flew under the radar

Beautifully written, impressively acted and skillfully paced, Moonlight is one of the greatest achievements in filmmaking of 2016.

They said 2016 was the worst year for movies in recent memory. But for every Batman v Superman: Yawn of Justice, there were at least two amazing works of genius clamoring for recognition. Some are simple movies of modest scale, others layered in ways we’ll still be studying years from now, but all prove that as long as the world has problems, there will be filmmakers confronting them. Here, in no particular order, are some of the best movies of what has been a most trying year.

Beautifully written, impressively acted and skillfully paced, Moonlight is one of the greatest achievements in filmmaking of 2016.
Beautifully written, impressively acted and skillfully paced, Moonlight is one of the greatest achievements in filmmaking of 2016.

Moonlight

If Moonlight were only a recitation of its subject matter—an LGBT coming-of-age story in a setting vastly underrepresented in film—it would have still been a brave undertaking and a fascinating watch. But writer-director Barry Jenkins takes the opportunity to dive deeper than the surface-level hardship (though it is still unflinching in this regard) to craft an elegiac, beautiful work of art about how our ideas about the world around us and ourselves first take root. Beautifully written, impressively acted and skillfully paced, Moonlight is the greatest achievement in filmmaking of 2016.

Mackenzie Davis co-stars in Sophia Takal's Always Shine, which flew under the radar in most markets.
Mackenzie Davis co-stars in Sophia Takal’s Always Shine, which flew under the radar in most markets.

Always Shine

Always Shine flew under the radar in most markets, but Sophia Takal’s stylish, cathartic thriller was one of the most exciting offerings of the year. The film follows two friends, both actresses in L.A. at differing levels of success. The tension boils over on a weekend getaway, as identities blur and the performative nature of our entire lives—career, art, even friendship—is blown wide open. Takal may emerge as this generation’s Brian de Palma—keep an eye on this one.

Pete’s Dragon

The common refrain from those proclaiming the death of cinema is the prevalence of sequels and remakes. Lo and behold, one of the most imaginative films of 2016 is a reimagining of a Disney property, Pete’s Dragon. Virtually everything is different—including the total absence of outright villains to make more room for the resonant theme of family and belonging—and it is guaranteed to engage children in its silliness and adults in its emotional maturity. Definitely the most surprising success of the year.

Demon

Polish writer-director Marcin Wrona blends historical intrigue, political metaphor and involving characters with impossible-seeming ease in Demon, easily the year’s most inventive foreign-language film. The story follows the chaos that ensues when a horrific discovery leads a man to become possessed by a dybbuk—a spirit in Jewish folklore—at his own wedding. The various reactions by the guests indicate that all are aware of Poland’s horrific wartime history, and the lengths to which they go to explain away the supernatural occurrence parallel the ways the nation as a whole has forgotten its past transgressions. Powerful, ambitious and surprisingly funny, Demon is a gem waiting to be discovered.

Anna Rolse Holmer has invented a style all her own with The Fits, a surrealist examination of gender, growing up and fitting in, with the appearance of a social realist drama.
Anna Rolse Holmer has invented a style all her own with The Fits, a surrealist examination of gender, growing up and fitting in, with the appearance of a social realist drama.

The Fits

To call The Fits genre-bending is to give the concept of genres too much credit. Anna Rolse Holmer has invented a style all her own with The Fits, a surrealist examination of gender, growing up and fitting in, with the appearance of a social realist drama. Set almost entirely in a fitness facility for children of all ages, where the men box and the women dance with the exception of our protagonist, The Fits is an act of cinematic subversion and pure imagination that is well worth your time.

The rest of the best: Manchester by the Sea, The Witch, Weiner (the documentary, not the man), The Lobster and The Neon Demon

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

Assassin’s Creed, Collateral Beauty, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fences, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Office Christmas Party, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, Why Him?

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000
Assassin’s Creed, Collateral Beauty, Fences, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing

Categories
Arts

Movie review: Jackie explores a new point of view

Natalie Portman carries the role of widow and former first lady in Jackie. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The myth of the Kennedys and Camelot is so interwoven in the fabric of American history and identity that we often forget how intentionally it was constructed to be just that. The style, the dinners, the decorations, everything was carefully planned to project a particular image that would inspire Americans and survive long after the administration ended. But the intentionality of it all makes it no less genuine; people need a national mythology to remind them of who they are, what they value and where they’ve been.

Jackie
R, 91 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema

This is the subject of Jackie, Pablo Larraín’s new film that is being advertised as a biopic but is much closer to a meditation on a theme or a visual essay. Natalie Portman plays First Lady Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy, a composed and confident character with a constant eye toward how Americans of today and future generations view their leaders and, by extension, themselves. The film begins with Jackie speaking with Theodore H. White (Billy Crudup) of Life magazine after she’s left the White House. Larraín then brings us on a journey through Jackie’s time in the public imagination, switching between her famous televised tour of the White House, the fateful day in Dallas, the period of time that followed in which she was responsible for Jack’s funeral and, therefore, legacy, interwoven with her dialogue with White.

Larraín is primarily concerned with exploring Jackie and her point of view, with the facts of her biography taking a backseat to the person she chose to be. She is surrounded by handlers and powerful men looking out for her well-being, including Bobby Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard), all of whom are interested in the immediate practicality of transition and stability. These issues are no doubt important, but Jackie knows that these are not what people will remember when they think of this hectic time. They’ll remember grace, they’ll remember powerful symbols, and they’ll remember feelings more deeply than the sequence of events. The events of our lives are often out of our control, but our legacy is of our own making.

Larraín’s camera frequently floats behind Jackie as she walks through the halls, capturing as much of the scenery as possible with her low in the frame, depicting her in her chosen context as was her wont. The wonderful score by Mica Levi (Under the Skin) feels modern yet timeless, amplifying the film’s themes of legacy and memory. Portman’s performance is studious and captivating, as attentive to both appearance and depth as the first lady herself.

Despite its intelligence, good intentions and a career-defining performance by Portman, it would be difficult to recommend Jackie to anyone but the devoted. The lack of a narrative center is its greatest artistic strength, but Larraín often circles back to the same point with nothing in particular to say that hasn’t already been said several times. And though Levi’s score is one of the year’s best, it is too often placed at random and becomes unfortunately distracting.

None of this is enough to ruin Jackie, however. Observant, philosophical and unforgettable for its examination of intentional myth-making, Jackie is a template for a new kind of biopic and a revelation for the already beloved Portman.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213
Assassin’s Creed, Collateral Beauty, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fences, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Office Christmas Party, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing, Why Him?

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000
Assassin’s Creed, Collateral Beauty, Fences, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Passengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Sing

Categories
Arts

Movie review: Collateral Beauty falls short of its full potential

Collateral Beauty stars Will Smith at the center of a multi-plot trope that grows tiresome in the hands of director David Frankel. Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox

Normally when a film comes out in mid-December with a cast full of movie stars and a vaguely philosophical name, it’s either a Christmas movie or an Oscar bid. Collateral Beauty makes a play for both, a move that could have been bold had it been the first holiday film to have genuine pedigree in decades. Instead, director David Frankel falls back on the most tired tropes of both holiday flicks and award bait, dragging down a promising premise and an impossibly talented cast.

Collateral Beauty
PG-13, 97 minutes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema

Collateral Beauty tells the story of Howard (Will Smith), founder and CEO of a successful marketing startup who becomes a shell of his former self following the death of his young daughter. Two years into his descent, he spends his time making elaborate domino designs in his office while writing letters to love, death and time—the three “abstractions” on which he once based his marketing philosophy and by which he now feels betrayed. He never manages to do any work in the meantime, a fact that concerns the other executives of the company (Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Michael Peña), who hire actors to embody Love (Keira Knightley), Death (Helen Mirren) and Time (Jacob Latimore) in order to reach Howard, to both save the company and ease his suffering.

Where this goes from here might be a surprise if you’ve never seen a movie before; it turns out that the three executives have problems in their own lives that require solutions rooted in a deeper appreciation of love (reconnecting with an estranged daughter), death (accepting a terminal illness) and time (something about a biological clock, this one doesn’t add up to much). When Collateral Beauty does occasionally work, it’s thanks to the spectacular cast adding depth to the broad-yet-shallow emotions in the script, leading the viewer to believe that this all might arrive somewhere worthwhile.

Interestingly, the least involved plot thread in Collateral Beauty is Howard’s, primarily because his entire journey leads to a twist instead of the resolution it so desperately needs. A fitting resolution would have been the consequence of the actions made by the characters during the audience’s journey with them, while a twist reduces all sophistication and complexity so the filmmakers can avoid confronting the difficult moral questions they raise. All of the heady dialogue and weighty themes boil down to a good cry and a hug after an infuriatingly simple wrap-up.

Collateral Beauty is the sort of movie where you can see the gears turning in the heads of the producers in real time—big star with a dead kid, lots of crying, pop philosophy and a twist ending. The subplots are the star of the show—they should have been more prominent and needed the most attention. The whole thing would have benefited by exploring the idea that the actors may themselves be supernatural instead of outright broadcasting it as soon as possible (if you consider that a spoiler, you need to get out more). That Collateral Beauty is not very good may not be a surprise to most, but its wasted potential makes it all the more disappointing than your average bad movie.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213
Arrival, Assassin’s Creed, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Nocturnal Animals, Office Christmas Party, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Manchester by the Sea, Moana, Office Christmas Party, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Categories
Arts

The rare quality of A Man Called Ove

Rolf Lassgård stars in the Swedish film A Man Called Ove, which is a thoughtful look at loss and rediscovery through a humorous lens. Music Box Films

Leave it to the Swedes to make a comedy-drama about an elderly widower’s unsuccessful attempts at suicide into the feel-good movie of 2016. A Man Called Ove strikes a rare balance between sardonicism and optimism, between hope and hilarious misanthropy, and succeeds thanks to excellent performances and a thoughtful story that would have drowned in sentimentality in less capable hands than writer-director Hannes Holm’s.

A Man Called Ove
PG-13, 116 minutes
Violet Crown Cinema

We meet Ove (Rolf Lassgård) as he argues with a checkout clerk over the meaning of a coupon to save money on flowers—flowers, as it turns out, that are meant to be left on his wife Sonja’s grave as part of his regular visits. He then unloads his frustration with the situation to Sonja as he sweetly confesses that he misses her, promising to be reunited with her soon. This is a perfect introduction to Ove, his worldview, what he values and how deeply he feels. The trouble comes when his inability to leave well enough alone collides with his desire to leave a world that seemingly has nothing more to offer him, when he sees his neighbor is incapable of backing a car with his trailer hitch at the exact moment he is attempting to hang himself.

Bit by bit, Ove becomes involved in his neighbors’ lives and problems, sometimes reluctantly but often out of frustration that they cannot follow the rules or complete household tasks themselves. Gradually, his suicide attempts become more infrequent as he becomes a steady part of their lives, particularly Parvaneh (Bahar Pars), an Iranian woman who both enjoys Ove’s company and refuses to relent to his stubbornness. A mother of two, soon to be three, and a caretaker of sorts to her less-than-handy husband, her tolerance for nonsense is even lower than Ove’s, but her enormous capacity to empathize motivates Ove to peel back the layers of his entrenched personality.

You can see how A Man Called Ove could have easily given way to sappiness, as the story of a rough but sensitive man from a previous generation whose defenses gradually get worn down. Where the film stands apart is in the way it explores how he became so closed off to begin with—giving the character more depth than if he had simply been an ornery old man. Ove revisits his past when he has a moment to reflect, usually as an attempt on his life nears success or when he’s feeling vulnerable with Parvaneh. She becomes something of a daughter to him, a fact that is significant as we learn about his relationship with his father, why he and Sonja never had children and the gradual way in which the young man with an enormous work ethic who married the woman of his dreams became the rules-obsessed, aggressive loner we see today.

Among the most remarkable aspects of A Man Called Ove is the way it balances all of the emotions of both its leading man and its diverse supporting cast. Laugh-out-loud moments bleed into near-tragic events without a drastic shift in style or tone, as director Holm tells the story in a mostly subdued manner that is befitting Ove himself. His suicide attempts are never stopped by cold feet or regret, but by an immediate reminder of his use in today’s world, and his portrayal by Lassgård is second to none. Sensitive, insightful, funny and intelligent, A Man Called Ove is a wonderful film that defies all expectations.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213
Allied, Almost Christmas, Arrival, Bad Santa 2, Doctor Strange, The Edge of Seventeen, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, Incarnate, Moana, Rules Don’t Apply, Trolls

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000
Allied, Arrival, Bad Santa 2, Blue, Doctor Strange, Gimme Danger, The Handmaiden, Loving, Moana, Moonlight, Rules Don’t Apply

Categories
Arts

Warren Beatty takes on the legend of Howard Hughes

Warren Beatty puts the charm and challenge of the old Hollywood studio system on screen in Rules Don’t Apply. Courtesy of 20th century Fox

The great Warren Beatty returns after a 15-year hiatus with Rules Don’t Apply, a Howard Hughes-centered passion project that has existed in the Hollywood icon’s mind since the early 1970s. Beatty rarely commits to a project halfway, and his fascination with the subject, setting and era of the film is evident in both his performance as the infamous industrialist-engineer-film producer and his energetic direction that draws terrific performances from a remarkable cast. Beatty’s enthusiasm for the subject is palpable and occasionally infectious, but it is also the film’s greatest weakness—the final result rarely has an opportunity to breathe or develop a life of its own, resulting in a fun movie with a lot to say but lacking much of a point.

Rules Don’t Apply follows the intertwined lives of Hughes (Beatty), his personal assistant, Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich), and aspiring actress Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins). Marla arrives in Hollywood with her mother (Annette Bening) to live the life of a contract star in Hughes’ roster, though almost immediately the arrangement appears less glamorous than originally promised. There is a beautiful house, a guaranteed stipend regardless of work performed and Frank’s services as a personal chauffeur. But face-to-face meetings with Hughes are virtually nonexistent, contracts are lowered out of windows onto the street to be signed and no real film work ever appears to get done. Marla never receives a screen test until she complains, but it is quickly apparent there is no film on the horizon.

Rules Don’t Apply
PG-13, 126 minutes
Violet Crown Cinema and Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

Frank, meanwhile, is an aspiring real estate developer who hopes to use his new position to gain Hughes’ trust and investment in a promising plot of land. The chemistry between Marla and Frank is palpable, but both are under contract to not engage in romantic relationships, as they are often reminded by coworker Levar (Matthew Broderick). It is Marla who writes a song inspired by Frank’s motivational words to her, “You’re an exception. The rules don’t apply to you.”

Hughes, the inspiration for the film and the man who brought these characters together, is largely absent for the first half hour or so of Rules Don’t Apply—fitting not only for his character but for the title, as he is a man who lives his life without the burden of any rules on behavior. A meeting between Hughes and Marla seems promising, but torn alliances and diverging ambitions complicate matters beyond repair. Beatty shows some affinity with the eccentric recluse, even if their biographies could not be more different. Discussions of legacy and immortality appear throughout, and it is only in these moments that the frenetic pace slows down and makes us listen instead of merely observing.

Rules Don’t Apply is an amiable and thoughtful look at the ways social and legal constraints can interfere with our ability to lead a happy, safe life, especially when they exist to do just the opposite. The lack of a central idea becomes apparent when the film veers between fiction and docudrama without committing to either, as whatever message Beatty wants to convey becomes muddled. Though not a full return to form, it is a return nonetheless, and a bad Beatty movie is still better than most. The rules don’t apply to him, either.

Playing this week

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213
Allied, Almost Christmas, Arrival, Bad Santa 2, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Doctor Strange, The Edge of Seventeen, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, Moana, Trolls

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000
Allied, Arrival, Bad Santa 2, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, The Handmaiden, Loving, Moana, Moonlight, White